1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus, a disk drive unit, a loading member, and a computer housing. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a disk drive unit as a hard disk drive and a technique for loading the disk drive unit in a lap-top personal computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hard disk drive units (HDD) are the most popular external storage units employed for computers. Each hard disk drive unit is structured so as to dispose one or more magnetic disks on a single shaft and drive the disk(s) via a spindle motor. The hard disk unit has a magnetic head disposed so as to face each magnetic disk and read/write data from/on the disk. This magnetic head is driven by an actuator, generally by a voice coil motor. The magnetic disks, the magnetic heads, and the actuator are all housed in a housing referred to as an enclosure case.
Generally, such an HDD is attached to a personal computer (PC) by screws. Conventionally, however, there have been proposed various methods for attaching an HDD to a PC. For example, Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 11-73760 discloses an HDD whose position can be easily adjusted after it is fixed to a PC.
Because the HDD includes such dynamic mechanisms as a spindle motor for rotating magnetic disks and an actuator for a magnetic head, it is sensitive to impacts. Because lap-top PCs are often carried around, they receive more frequent and more intense impacts than desk-top PCs. Thus, a HDD installed in respective lap-top PCs is required to have higher resistance to impacts. To ensure such the high impact resistance, the HDD must be fastened firmly to the subject lap-top PC.
For current lap-top PCs, the HDD is configured by a 2.5-inch form factor. The representative value of this form factor is 100.2xc2x10.25 mm (l)xe2x80x2 69.85xc2x10.25 mm (w)xe2x80x2 9.5xc2x10.2 mm (t). The lap-top PC body is provided with a space referred to as an HDD slot (or a medium bay or device bay), in which an HDD is loaded and fixed. The HDD is provided with a connector for sending/receiving data to/from external devices. This HDD connector is connected to a connector of the subject lap-top PC. Due to this connection to the lap-top PC via the connectors, the HDD is fixed to the PC more firmly. However, since this connection is insufficient to adequately fix the HDD to the PC, the HDD is also fixed by screws that go through the housing of the lap-top PC, and through the HDD slot vertically so as to provide adequate HDD impact resistance.
For conventional lap-top PCs, the HDD is fixed to the subject lap-top PC by fastening the bottom of the HDD housing to the lower wall of the HDD slot with screws. If screws are used in parallel to the plane direction of the PC, however, it is impossible to employ the conventional method that fixes the bottom of the HDD housing directly to the lower wall of the HDD slot of the lap-top PC with screws. Therefore, the fixing force is insufficient when case screws are only disposed in parallel to the plane direction to fix the HDD to the PC.
Elimination of any clearance between the HDD housing and the HDD slot allows the HDD to be fixed firmly to the lap-top PC. However, such a lack of clearance space between the HDD housing and the HDD slot results in difficulty in loading the HDD into the HDD slot, which is typically done manually. In the absence of adequate clearance, loading the HDD into the HDD slot becomes a more difficult, time-consuming task thus reducing lap-top PC production efficiency.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fixing structure for enabling the portable electronic apparatus to be thinned and such an electronic device as an HDD to be firmly fixed to the portable electronic apparatus such as a lap-top PC.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk drive unit, a loading member, and computer housing provided respectively with such a fixing structure.
The present invention also provides a loading member preferred for the computer apparatus of the present invention. Specifically, the present invention provides a loading member enabled to load and fix the disk drive unit in the slot of the computer housing. The loading member includes a fixing member for fixing itself to the disk drive unit and a slope member having a slope inclined along the direction for loading the disk drive unit in the slot. This loading member is inserted in the slot located in the housing of the computer while it is fixed to the disk drive unit. In case another member to slide on the slope is provided in this slot, it can function just like the conversion member that converts the displacement in the plane direction of the disk drive unit to the displacement in the direction vertical to the plane direction when the disk drive unit is loaded in the housing of the computer. And, in order to make it easier to load the disk drive unit into the slot, this loading member should preferably include a grip to be held when the disk drive unit is loaded in the slot.
Furthermore, the present invention provides such a housing preferred for the computer apparatus of the present invention. Concretely, the present invention provides the housing of the computer apparatus including a slot in which the disk drive unit is to be loaded. The housing includes an loading hole formed at the slot, an upper wall and/or a lower wall for partitioning the slot, and a slope member disposed in the slot and having a slope inclined along the loading direction from the loading hole. In case the disk drive unit to be loaded in the slot is provided with another member that slides on the slope, the member can function just like the conversion member for converting the displacement in the plane direction of the disk drive unit to the displacement in the direction vertical to the plane direction when the disk drive unit is loaded in the housing.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.